Blackberry Pies and A Murder

The Gnomes had been baking blackberry pies all morning for the bake-off. I witnessed a few nasty moves by the Gnomes, such as switching the sugar for salt, or sneaking sand into the competitor’s pie crust, but nothing too terrible. Everything seemed to be going as good as one could hope until it came time for judging. The pies were presented to the panel of judges, a murder of crows. The crows went nuts! The backyard was filled to the brim with crows violently clawing and chomping at the pies. There was pie crust and blackberry mess all over the yard. Once they were done they left, and no judgement was made. Silly Gnomes, crows don’t judge, they just eat and run.

The world that Glushanovsky paints is wonderfully-saturated with elements from all over the fantasy genre—though this is not simply a tale of sword and sorcery. These classical fantasy figures are well-executed and have the sensibility of a seasoned Russian fantasy novel, especially since this is part of a tetralogy previously published in Russia. Readers of George R.R. Martin, Raymond Feist and Stephen R. Donaldson will adore THE ROAD TO MAGIC.

There are exciting parallel narratives at work in THE ROAD TO MAGIC. On one level we have the handsome playboy Oleg Davidov as a modern-day college student; on another level we have Oleg the demon savior of the princess; and on another level, Oleg the monster hunter. Like Harry Potter, Oleg was once a normal boy until he is magnificently transformed into something supernatural, which is later used as a commentary/comic relief tool once Oleg is a demon. That’s what you get when you dabble in magic with a demoness. Rarely does Oleg ever approach the world of fantasy as an outsider—in fact he feels right at home in that world. After Oleg resolves the princess’s plight, he then takes off to learn magic at the university—but not before Oleg can slay some monsters in a few Herculean feats on his way to becoming a student of magic. Readers will also learn a lot about Russian pop-culture from reading THE ROAD TO MAGIC. The complex story, moving along at a brisk pace, presents an intelligent take on the nature of fantasy gods and the human relationship to both gods and monsters.

Passionate, idealistic, young Matt Whiteside has just landed the job of his dreams.Dressed to kill and running on pure ambition, he enters the ranks of mortgage-backed securities traders twice his age for one of the most prestigious firms in San Francisco.

Life couldn’t be sweeter. But the roller coaster has only just begun.

When he meets a beautiful woman also on the upward move, his dreams appear to be unstoppable.But unbridled love too often hides the truth in its shadow and not everything is as it appears.

As he discovers the world of mortgage-backed securities, experiencing a soaring financial wave never seen before, Matt is welcomed with open arms into a seductive arena almost too good to be true.When insatiable greed raises its ugly head, jealousy and betrayal follow quickly behind.In a moment of brutal clarity, his world shatters with the realization he is merely a pawn in someone’s wicked game. Just as quickly as it all began, his dreams slip through his fingers as he struggles to hold on to a world that never really existed.

Bounty hunter Victor McCain always wondered how his brother, Mikey, went from down-n-out loser to one of Louisville’s richest men. Now he knew: his brother sold his soul to the Devil. And in twenty-four hours, Mikey would die and spend eternity in Hell unless Victor agreed to hunt down a thief, a woman as deadly as she is beautiful. On a journey of murder and betrayal, Victor must now put his own soul at risk to save his only brother, battle a dark underground organization with the goal of nothing less than global war between Christians and Muslims, and fight creatures from man’s darkest nightmares. Then there’s the Hand of God, God’s own bounty hunter. In the end, will he be friend or enemy? Only Heaven knows.

Meredith is managing okay since she left her hometown of Crossroads, Montana—she’s working, paying the rent and putting food on the table for herself and her child, anyway. No matter how much time passes,though,she can’t let go of Pete, the only man she’s ever loved. Or the fact that her best friend is dead. How can I move on, Meredith asks herself again and again, when my sweet child is such a painful reminder?

Her son is five when Meredith returns to Crossroads to claim The Serenade—a popular hotel, bar and restaurant—which she inherits from a dear friend who had treated her like family when her own family did not. She’s not sure if going home will really give her the fresh start she’s been looking for, or just reopen old wounds and resurrect old nightmares.

On a rainy spring day in Seattle, young software tycoon Micah Taylor receives a cryptic, twenty-five-year-old letter from a great uncle he never knew. It claims a home awaits him on the Oregon coast that will turn his world inside out. Suspecting a prank, Micah arrives at Cannon Beach to discover a stunning, brand new nine-thousand square foot house. And after meeting Sarah Sabin at a nearby ice cream shop, he has two reasons to visit the beach every weekend. When bizarre things start happening in the rooms of the home, Micah suspects they have some connection to his enigmatic new friend, Rick, the town mechanic. But Rick will only say the house is spiritual. This unnerves Micah because his faith slipped away like the tide years ago, and he wants to keep it that way. But as he slowly discovers, the home isn’t just spiritual, it’s a physical manifestation of his soul, which God uses to heal Micah’s darkest wounds and lead him into an astonishing new destiny.

The fur starts flying when a gang from L.A. comes up to tranquil Molena Point, California, and begins breaking into the village’s quaint shops. The fur of Joe Grey, Feline P.I., that is. After all, Molena Point has been his home since he was a kitten eating scraps from the garbage behind the local delicatessen, and he doesn’t take well to marauding strangers. Joe even wonders whether the blonde who’s moved into next to his human companion Clyde could be a part of the gang––she’s been acting pretty suspicious lately. But when the strangers start trapping and caging feral cats––speaking cats like Joe and his girlfriend Dulcie––it proves too much for the intrepid four–footed detective. And when one of the gang is murdered, and a second mysterious death comes to light, he has no choice but to try to stop the crimes. Joe, Dulcie, and their tattercoat friend Kit, who used to be a stray herself, are deep into the investigation when they are able to release the three trapped cats. But as Kit leads them away to freedom, will she herself return to that wild life?